So the article, which talks about governance lessons from Valmiki’s Ramayana, Vyasa’s Mahabharata and Kautilya’s Arthshastra, is being seen as the view of the founders of the BJP on the Modi dispensation.

The points of emphasis in Joshi’s prescriptions – on the importance of consultation and dissent, protection of the people from hunger and fear, the security of women – seem tailor made for a government that is seen by its critics as failing on every count.

Consider this. “The king according to Valmiki cannot be a despot. We find in Ramayan the king consulting ministers, learned men, and the principal officers of the Army in shaping the policy of the state”.

This sentence has been highlighted and circulated in Sangh offices as a dig at the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo and how they have reduced the BJP to a two man show from the disciplined, cadre-based party which once took pride in inner-party democracy.

So the article, which talks about governance lessons from Valmiki’s Ramayana, Vyasa’s Mahabharata and Kautilya’s Arthshastra, is being seen as the view of the founders of the BJP on the Modi dispensation.

The points of emphasis in Joshi’s prescriptions – on the importance of consultation and dissent, protection of the people from hunger and fear, the security of women – seem tailor made for a government that is seen by its critics as failing on every count.

Consider this. “The king according to Valmiki cannot be a despot. We find in Ramayan the king consulting ministers, learned men, and the principal officers of the Army in shaping the policy of the state”.

This sentence has been highlighted and circulated in Sangh offices as a dig at the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo and how they have reduced the BJP to a two man show from the disciplined, cadre-based party which once took pride in inner-party democracy.